Cleopatra Dying by Thomas Stephens Collier

Sinks the sun below the desert,
Golden glows the sluggish Nile;
Purple flame crowns Spring and Temple,
Lights up every ancient pile
Where the old gods now are sleeping;
Isis and Osiris great,
Guard me, help me, give me courage
Like a Queen to meet my fate.

“I am dying, Egypt, dying,,”
Let the Caesar’s army come –
I will cheat him of his glory,
Though beyond the Styx I roam;
Shall he drag this beauty with him –
While the crowd his triumph sings?
No, no, never! I will show him
What lies in the blood of Kings.

Though he hold the golden scepter,
Rule the Pharaoh’s sunny land,
Where old Nilus rolls resistless
Through the sweeps of silvery sand –
He shall never say I met him
Fawning, abject, like a slave –
I will foil him, though to do it
I must cross the Stygian wave.

Oh, my hero, sleeping, sleeping –
Shall I meet you on the shore
Of Plutonian shadows? Shall we
In Death meet and love once more?
See, I follow in your footsteps-
Scorn the Caesar in his might;
For your love I will leap boldly
Into realms of death and night.

Down below the desert sinking,
Fades Apollo’s brilliant car;
And from out the distant azure
Breaks the bright gleam of a star.
Venus, Queen of Love and Beauty,
Welcomes me to death’s embrace,
Dying, free, proud, and triumphant,
The last sovereign of my race.

Dying, dying! I am coming,
Oh, my hero, to your arms;
You will welcome me, I know it –
Guard me from all rude alarms.
Hark! I hear the legions coming,
Hear the cries of triumph swell,
But, proud Caesar, dead I scorn you –
Egypt, Antony, farewell.

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Martin Luther King, Jr. by Dennis Lange

King dreamed that he would say (when chains were past
Or strands so thin and few), these words long overdue,
“Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Though Egypt was behind, her reach was vast.
And like the wind, he blew winged words that fell like dew.
King dreamed a dream when all the chains were past.

His voice was Gabriel’s mighty trumpet blast;
The march began on cue, toward Canaan’s words and view,
“Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

His dream? – by hate and pharaohs not harassed;
Men judged, not by their hue; a future bright and new.
King dreamed a dream when all the chains were past.

Upon the farther shore, his people massed,
The sea returned and blue, they’d shout because they knew,
“Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Let go the broken chains! Away, them cast!
The speech and dream came true, for all who dare and do.
And now men say, since all their chains are past:
“Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

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© Dennis Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2016.

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On a Honey Bee by Philip Freneau

(Drinking from a Glass of Wine and
…………Drowned Therein)

Thou, born to sip the lake or spring,
Or quaff the waters of the stream,
Why hither come on vagrant wing? –
Does Bacchus tempting seem –
Did he, for you, this glass prepare? –
Will I admit you to a share?

Did storms harass or foes perplex,
Did wasps or king-birds bring dismay –
Did wars distress, or labours vex,
Or did you miss your way? –
A better seat you could not take
Than on the margin of this lake.

Welcome! – I hail you to my glass:
All welcome, here, you find;
Here, let the cloud of trouble pass,
Here, be all care resigned. –
This fluid never fails to please,
And drown the griefs of men or bees.

What forced you here, we cannot know,
And you will scarcely tell –
But cheery we would have you go
And bid a glad farewell;
On lighter wings we bid you fly,
Your dart will now all foes defy.

Yet take not, oh! too deep a drink,
And in this ocean die;
Here bigger bees than you might sink,
Even bees full six feet high.
Like Pharaoh, then, you would be said
To perish in a sea of red.

Do as you please, your will is mine;
Enjoy it without fear –
And your grave will be this glass of wine,
Your epitaph – a tear –
Go, take your seat in Charon’s boat,
We’ll tell the hive, you died afloat.

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